Loving Life
by Iris Omega
Summary: MAJOR UPDATE!!!! SIX NEW CHAPTERS!!! We finally meet a Gundam pilot, and there are some new twists. R&R!!
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters, but I do own Lize. So if anyone wants to use her, which I doubt anyone will, you have to ask my permission first.  
  
  
  
It was the middle of the night. A dark shadow stole down the alley. The name of the shadow was Lize Triente. Fifteen years old, she was the greatest bounty hunter and secret agent ever known. So great, even, that no one knew her. She was never caught. Although the perfect picture of beauty, she was bitter and angry. Loved no one and was loved by no one. She was a tool, nothing else. No one, even herself, cared if she lived or died. Yes, she did know she was a tool, but she didn't care. She saw no purpose in life. She was emotionally scarred. Permanently. All she knew was her mission. Nothing could change her life. No one could help her live. She was trapped in a cage of deceit and hate. Forever a slave.  
  
She had no memories of her life as a child. Her earliest memory was when she was thirteen. A street child, stealing from countless people, just to stay alive. Living under a bridge, not knowing when the river would suddenly overflow, washing her and her meager belongings out. Then, she was not the perfect picture of beauty, but of misery.  
  
Only once in her life had she ever been caught stealing. It was one night when she was just fourteen years old. She broke into a very appealing house. Little did she know that the owner of that gorgeous house was the leader of a secret agency, trying to take over the world. She was caught. She expected the worst. But the man was very impressed with her stealthy skills. He explained to her that his house was guarded with high tech alarms, and that only the most skilled thief could get in.  
  
His name was Yonef Hierecsty, leader of the mysterious group Mulion. His goal in life was to control the world. He cared for nothing but his own power. He saw Lize as the perfect agent of his will. And the perfect secret agent she was. He taught her all that he knew, and in no time at all, she was the best secret agent in the world. She could complete the hardest mission in no time flat. She could penetrate any alarm system available. She could hack in to any computer system. Yonef was very pleased with himself. He believed that in no time, he would be ruling the world. 


	2. Chapter II

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the GW characters. I'll just leave it at that.

Author's Note: I know that this is starting out a little boring, but it really does get a lot more exciting. Maybe not in this chapter, but later. Believe me. It gets better.

"Lize!"

Lize rolled her eyes. Yonef could never let her have a moment of rest; not even to wash her face!

"What is it?"

"Come down here at once!"

She rolled her eyes again. "Whatever," she muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lize was shocked, although she didn't let it show.

"They did what?"

"They betrayed us. Now the whole world is on our trail."

Yonef was very grim indeed. Two men had just escaped from the base. They had gone to secret agents on Mulion's trail and had reported them and had given all their coordinates.

"So now they're trying to find us," she said as strongly as she could.

"Yes."

She sighed. This was her home. She had lived here for a long time. These people were her family. She suddenly thought of the two men. She had trusted them completely. Could she still trust anyone? Could she confide in anyone anymore? Geoff and Triton. They betrayed the agency. And although she had never met them, they betrayed her. She shook her head.

"We must evacuate."

Yonef sighed deeply. 

"Yes, we must. And soon. Pack your things. We will leave at once."

Lize took off down the hall. Two minutes later she was on the landing deck waiting for a plane. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hot blast of fire shot out from one of the planes as it exploded.

"What is going on here?"

Thoughts whirled around in Lize's head.

"Lize!"

Who was that calling her? Why wasn't she moving? She knew what to do, why wasn't she doing it? Why didn't she get out of the way? Why? 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, something big and heavy knocked her down. After that it was blackness.

Thanks


	3. Chapter III

Chapter 4

"Come in."

Lize walked into Yonef's new office.

"You wanted to see me?"

Yonef looked up.

"Ah, Lize. Yes, I did want to see you. Sit down."

Lize sat.

"What is it?" she asked, trying to sound polite.

"I have a mission for you."

Lize was suddenly excited, but she decided not to let it show.

"A mission? What kind of mission?"

"A mission that, if completed successfully, could be a big breakthrough in our grand scheme."

"Okay, what do I have to do?"

Yonef chuckled.

"As always, Miss Triente, you are ready to take on your mission full speed without slowing down."

"Of course."

He chuckled again.

"Ah, but for this mission you may have to slow down."

Lize shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't, sir. It just isn't in me."

"You've always been a good actor, Lize. I'm sure this will be nothing."

Lize knew that he was right, though she wouldn't admit it.

"Fine. What do I have to do?"

Yonef suddenly became serious.

"But first, you must understand that this is for our ears and our ears only."

Lize shrugged.

"Isn't everything?"

He ignored the weak attempt at a joke.

"This is a mission that we will only have one shot at. A mission that I can't trust any of my other agents with. Not after what just happened."

"It didn't just happen," Lize thought. "It was eight months ago." She shrugged the thought off.

"How do you know you can trust me?"

Yonef grinned evilly.

"Oh, my dear Lize, you wouldn't betray me. I know you wouldn't. And if you did, there would be dire, dire consequences."

Lize hated when he talked like that. She wasn't afraid of him or what he could do. She wasn't afraid of anything. But she could feel hate, and she hated when he talked like that.

"Unlike Triton Bloom and Geoff Inez," he continued. You know everything about this organization. I couldn't let you go, now could I?"

Lize countered his gaze with one of extreme amusement.

"How could you stop me?"

He chuckled.

"Oh, Lize. There are ways."

With that he dropped the subject.

"Now about your mission…"

"Yes, let's get to the important things."

"This will take all of your skills to complete. It will take acting, stealth, cunning, computer knowledge, and instinct."

"Okay, okay! What do you want me to do?!?"

Yonef grinned.

"I want you to seek and destroy…"

"Yes…"

He waited a moment before answering.

"…the Gundam Pilots."

A/N: Sorry about the cliff hanger, I just love torturing people. Though by the time anybody reads this I'll have the next chapter up. *sniff* Oh well. ^__^ 


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter 5

Lize looked in the mirror. There was a hint of sadness in her Prussian blue eyes. She ran her fingers through her natural cranberry hair. She had been shocked when Yonef had told her that "Triton Bloom" was actually a the Gundam Pilot Trowa Barton, and that she had to completely change her appearance and get a new identity so that she wouldn't be recognized. She liked her appearance, she didn't want to change, but she also desperately wanted this assignment, and she wasn't going to give it up because she liked the way she looked. Someone entered the room and any sadness or reluctance that had been was gone.

Lize turned around to see a young man of about 17 staring blankly at her.

"What are you looking at?" she growled menacingly.

He shrugged.

"I'm guessing you're the girl they wanted me to change."

"Yeah, so?"

He shrugged again.

"Let's get this over with," he said flatly.

He motioned to a chair and Lize sat with a look of disgust on her face. Yonef hadn't told her that this guy would be so annoying. 

"Do you want your hair shorter or longer," he asked evenly.

"I don't care. Just do whatever.

He shrugged yet again. He was really getting on Lize's nerves.

The young man worked for many hours changing and altering Lize's appearance. When it was over, he gave her some clothes and shoes she should wear, and gave her some instructions.

"…and if you want to change your hair back, use this."

He held up a bottle of what appeared to be shampoo. Lize impatiently snatched it out of his hand.

"That's the only way your hair will go back to normal. Other than that, it's just makeup and contacts. Illusions and such."

She nodded.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving now."

And he was gone as suddenly as he came. Lize walked over to the small mirror hanging on the opposite wall. She gasped in surprise when she saw her reflection. Instead of chin length cranberry hair, she had waist length dark blonde hair with hints of brown showing through and was slightly wavy. Instead of Prussian blue eyes, she had bright green ones. Her eyebrows were much thinner than they had been. The clothes she was wearing made her look much more petite. She looked down at her hands and saw long, perfectly manicured nails in the place of her short untidy ones. If anyone wanted to describe her, they would say she looked like a short version of a supermodel. 

Lize walked over to the small table in the middle of the room and saw a little ID card the boy had left before he slipped out. She stared at it. "Xantippe Demean," it read. "Age, fifteen. Occupation, none. Colony of residence, L2." Lize blinked. She'd only been to L2 once! She knew nothing about it! "Oh well," she sighed. "A little research hurts nothing." Now all she had to do was come up with a plan…


	5. Chapter V

Chapter 6

A sturdy knock startled Yonef from his endless mounds of paperwork.

"Come in."

A shadowy figure clandestinely strode into his office.

"Ah," Yonef's lips curved in a flagitious grin. "You're here."

"What do you want, Yonef?" the figure asked with impatience.

Yonef discreetly pulled an old manila envelope out of his mahogany desk.

"Only to give you this."

The figure snatched it out of his hand and leafed through it, chuckling with extreme pleasure.

"Very nice," he said and tossed it back at Yonef. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to follow her. Do whatever you must, but never let her out of your sight. Never. Not even for one moment. You must always be watching her."

The man cocked his head slightly.

"Why?"

"Let's just say that I have a feeling our little agent will have to face more than she expects."

"You expect her to fail?"

Yonef leaned forward intently. "I want to know every slip-up, every mistake. I want a full-scale report every day. Do whatever you must, but you have to keep a constant eye on her."

"I'll ask again," the man said with growing impatience. "Do you expect her to fail? She's never done so before."

Yonef shrugged. "Emotions have a way of catching up with you." He threw the envelope back to the man. "Now go. You'll have to catch up with her before she leaves."

The man nodded curtly and slipped out of the room. Yonef smiled evilly.

"Now, my little puppet, we'll see if you can stand the test." 


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter 7

Lize went back to her room and quickly packed anything she thought would be of use to her. Her trusty laptop, of course, was among these things. She was suddenly aware of someone in the doorway watching her. She spun around to see Marshall smirking at her.

"What are you doing?" she growled.

"Nothing." He casually strode into the room. "Just wanted to see what you were doing, that's all." He stared at her a bit more. "Hey, what happened to you?"

"Nothing. Just got ruined, that's all."

"I don't think it looks bad."

She glared at him.

"You wouldn't."

"No guy would."

She loosened up a bit.

"Well, go away. I don't need anyone watching me pack."

Marshall didn't go away. Instead he strode forward and sat on her bed with her suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business," she mumbled. "Now go away."

"No."

Lize looked at him annoyedly and saw him grinning back. He was extremely attractive with his dark complexion and ruddy appearance, and if she were a normal person she would have been tempted to like him, but in being feelingless as she was, she didn't like anyone. She just glared at him.

"Fine. If you have to know, I'm going on a mission to earth. Are you satisfied?"

"No, not exactly." 

"What do you want?" she asked, exasperated.

"To go with you"

"No!"

"Yes."

She knew there was no arguing with him. He had that determined look in his eyes and it wouldn't go away until she submitted to his wishes. Besides, what harm could he do?

"Fine! You can come."

He smirked. "I thought so."

Lize glared at him and kept on packing. 


	7. Chapter VII

Chapter 8

The next few days went by in a blur. They boarded a shuttle bound for earth. When they got there they had stayed a few nights in an old run-down hotel while Lize researched the pilots and their whereabouts. Next thing they knew they were ambushing a Gundam Pilot in a dark alley. 

Lize tossed a black metal object at Marshall. "Make yourself useful."

He stared at the object that appeared to be a gun. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Shoot it. What else would you do with a gun, plant it in the ground and hope it will grow?"

He gave her and exasperated look. "I know I'm supposed to shoot it, but shoot what?"

"Me."

Marshall was confused. "You?"

"Yes, me, dimwit. Do you need a hearing aid?"

"I just wanted to make sure I heard you right," he was getting angry with her.

"I made it clear enough the first time."

"Fine!"

She didn't seem to care about his anger. "When Quatre Raberba Winner comes around the corner, you run away and act like you were some kind of estranged weirdo running around killing people. Then I'll look like an innocent victim."

He nodded. "Sounds easy enough."

"It is."

"But how do you know he's going to come?"

"For two reasons; one, he's right down the street walking this way; two, he's supposed to be "understanding" and "compassionate" or something like that. I'm hoping he'll take pity on me."

"Okay."

Lize waited until Quatre was in sight.

"Okay, now."

Marshall pointed the gun at her and shot her several times in invital places. She gave a shrill cry of pain and then helplessly crumpled to the ground. Running footsteps sounded down the street.

"Perfect."

Marshall saw a young man of about 16 round the corner. He decided that now would be a good time to use his five-star acting skills. He made himself seem in shock.

"What happened?" the young man, who he assumed to be Quatre, asked.

"T-this m-m-maniac came and t-tried to t-take her purse," Marshall stammered. "T-then he p-p-pulled out a g-gun and sh-shot h-her."

"Alright, do you think you can carry her?"

Marshall nodded numbly.

"Okay, I'll call my car and you carry her to the street. I'll meet you there."

"Okay."

"Alright."

Quatre bounded down the alley and sprang out of view. Marshall tenderly lifted Lize up. She had passed out and hung limp in his arms. He smiled a slightly deranged smile as he carried her to the street.

"Everything is working as planned."


	8. Chapter VIII

Chapter 9

"What do you mean you can't fit her in?!" Quatre was enraged. "She's shot for heaven's sake!"

"I'm sorry," the hospital receptionist said coolly. "But we don't have any room."

"Don't you know who I am?"

"Yes, Mr. Winner, we do. But there is no room. We can't throw our patients outside. Not even for someone like you."

Quatre wanted to slug the receptionist. 

"You don't even have one bed? She's bleeding to death! You want someone's death to be on your head?"

The receptionist's eyes flickered.

"I'm sorry. But for the last time, we don't have any room!"

With that she stalked off down the hall. Quatre gave and exasperated sigh. He knew he didn't have any choice. He had to take her back to base. He walked over to Marshall who was sitting on a chair holding Lize on his lap. He looked up at Quatre with a glazed expression.

"What did she say?"

"There's no room."

Marshall's dropped his gaze.

"I should have known."

"Not all hope is lost. I know where we can take her. Follow me."

Marshall nodded numbly and blindly followed Quatre.

***

Marshall looked with satisfaction as they pulled up to a massive building well hidden from the street. He knew that this was the preventor base where the Gundam Pilots were now working. They parked and Quatre jumped out motioning for Marshall to follow.

"Come on. There's no time to lose."

Marshall scrambled out and followed Quatre as fast as he could. They ran through countless halls and large tunnels until they finally came to a room that looked like a cafeteria. A few people were scattered about and they all looked up when Quatre and Marshall entered. Quatre ran over to a certain table where a young man and woman were seated. They both stood.

"Quatre? What's wrong?" the young woman asked with concern.

"We need your help, Sally. A young girl was shot and…"

"Say no more," she interrupted. "Take her to the room and I'll be there in a minute."

Quatre nodded and started running through the halls again. Marshall followed as best he could. It was getting tiring to run with an extra 120+ pounds.

***

Lize woke up and was immediately confused. Where was she? It looked like she was in an operation room of some sort. Who was that lady across the room? She suddenly realized a dull pain coming from her collarbone area. The lady looked up as she moaned.

"Well," she said smiling. "It's good to see you're awake."

"Is it?" Lize wasn't too sure.

"Of course it is! It means you're not in a coma."

"Well, I guess that's a plus."

The lady laughed.

"You're certainly spunky."

"Thanks for noticing." 

The lady laughed again.

"By the way, what's your name? I can't just call you "The Spunky Girl" now can I?"

Lize smirked.

"My name is Xantippe. Xantippe Demean."

"I'm Sally. Nice to meet you."

"Maybe it would be nice if it were under different circumstances."

"Yes, it would be much nicer."

Lize looked at Sally.

"Are you the doctor?"

"Why yes, I am."

"What's the diagnosis?"

Sally took out a clipboard. It seemed to Lize like that was a must for doctors.

"Well, you've lost a lot of blood, but, with proper care and bandaging, you should recover and be fully healed in about four months."

"Oh."

Lize looked at her surroundings once more.

"Where am I?"

***

Marshall paced back and forth outside of the room where Lize and Sally were. Quatre laughed.

"Pacing isn't going to make it go any faster, you know."

Marshall sighed.

"I know. I just hope she's alright."

"So do I."

Marshall looked at Quatre quizzically. Pure concern was etched across his handsome face. Why should he care? Marshall sat down across from Quatre.

"Thank you for helping us, Quatre."

"Don't mention it. I think it's my job to help people."

"Well, not many people do." 

"Unfortunately not."

Marshall decided that if he didn't ask any questions about his surroundings then Quatre would suspect he was up to something.

"Where are we?"

Quatre hesitated. Marshall saw that he was reluctant to tell.

"We're at the Preventors base," he finally said.

"Oh," he said. Quatre grinned.

"I can see you don't know what I'm talking about."

Marshall grinned sheepishly, but he was smirking inside. At that second Sally came through the door. She was smiling. That was a good thing.

"How is she?" he asked, trying to sound nervous.

"Well, she's lost a lot of blood, and she'll need bed-rest for a while, but she'll be fine."

Marshall sighed with fake relief. He knew she would be all right. She always was.

"Would you like to see her?" she asked.

"Yes, if it's okay."

"Of course it's okay," she opened the door for him. "Take your time."

He nodded and nearly ran inside. He saw Lize lying on a bed in the middle of the room. She rolled over when she heard someone enter, but when she saw it was him she was far from happy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with extreme wrath filling her voice.

He shrugged. "I just decided to stick with you."

"You are an idiot, Marshall! You are so vapid! I shouldn't have said you could come in the first place. I was being the idiot then. You know better than to interfere with my plan, baka! What were you thinking?"

Marshall shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I just wanted to make sure you recovered, that's all."

"Lame excuse. You knew I would recover just fine," her voice was a menacing hiss. "There is another reason and I know it."

He shrugged again.

"I dunno. Is there?"

"You tell me."

"I don't say there is. Hey, you should settle down. All this stress is bad on your nerves."

"I don't have any nerves. You've already blown them all up."

Marshall chuckled softly.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Xantippe."

He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead then left the room. His actions would have enraged her even more if she hadn't been stupefied that he knew her new name. 

"How did he know?" she thought out loud. "I never told him."

The other thing she didn't know or understand was how complicated her mission was going to become along the way. 

I know that they're all really short. I'm still working on writing long chapters. Do you think I did a good job? I'm still struggling with writing stories. I looked back on "It All Started With Cooking" the other day and saw that there were so many holes in it. I really need to work on that kind of thing. It's hard! o_O


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